Animal-shears



I No. 68,978. Patented Nov. 8', I898. H. V. DUNN.

ANIMAL SHEARS.

(Application filed Nov. 5, 1897.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT HUGII V. DUNN, OF HURRICANE, WEST VIRGINIA.

ANlMAL-S HEAR S srmmmolv forming part of Letters Patent No. 613,978,datedi Iovember s, 1898. Application filed November 5,1897. Serial No.657,616. on model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,' HUGH V. DUNN, of Hurricane, in the county of Putnamand State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Animal-Shears; and I hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

This invention relates to shears for clipping wool, &c., and is animprovement upon the shears for which I obtained Letters Patent of theUnited States No. 540,156, dated May 28, 1895; and the objects of thepresent invention are to overcome difficulties which sometimes arose inthe use of my patented shears, as hereinafter explained, and to simplifythe construction of said shears as a whole. I accomplish these objectsby doing away with the slot B the spring f, and bolt F of said patentand by connecting the front or inner ends of the X-levers E e to thehandles A A and using these X-levers as the springs for holding theblades in cutting contact.

The invention therefore consists in the improved and novel constructionand combination of parts hereinafter. described, summarized in theclaims, and illustrated in the aceompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1is a top plan view of the shears. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on line2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the shears, andFig. 4 is an enlarged front view thereof.

I will refer to said drawings by the same let ters of. reference used inmy said patent, so far as the parts are similar or substantially so, andwill distinguish the novel features of the invention by reference-letters not found in such patent.

A A designate the opposite handles of the shears. The rear end ofhandles A A are pivotally connected to the ends of a bent flatband-spring D, as described in said patent, which tends to force thehandles apart.

A stationary comb-blade B is fixed on the front end of handle A, and hasa series of parallel teeth I). On the outer end of handle A is acutting-blade G.

It will be observed by reference to Figs. 1

and 4 that each tooth b is beveled from the l cutting edge backwardtoward the next tooth,

such bevel extending from its point to its base,

and that the cutting edge of the blade 0 is diagonal to the cuttingedges of the teeth, and this blade, moreover, is concave, substantiallyas described in my patent. Owing to the bevels of the teeth b and blade0 it results that as blade 0 moves over the teeth b, or vice versa, thepoint of blade 0 will drop below the point of the tooth with which it isgoing to coact, although the heel of the blade will rest upon the heelof the cutting edge of the tooth, and then as the blade moves over thetooth the cutting edge of the blade will ride up on the cutting edge ofthe tooth, and thus an efiectual' shear cut will be realized. The pointof contact, however, between the cutting edge of any tooth is alwaysminute, and as the contact-point recedes from the base of the teeth andblade the resistance of the spring (the X-levers in the presentinstance) which holds the blade and teeth in contact increases, and thusa practically uniform contact-pressure is maintained between the bladeand the coacting tooth. Furthermore, by reason of these bevels thebending over of the wool or material upon the teeth before it is cut isprevented and a clean cut is insured.

The rear ends of handles A A are provided with horizontal slots A inwhich are respectively pivoted the rear ends of the X-levers E e, theslots maintaining the levers in horizontal position. The levers E e arepivoted together at their point of intersection, and their front ends,instead of working in guide slots or grooves in the handle, as in saidpatent, are provided with curved slots E and a, respectively, throughwhich pass pins J and j, respectively attached to handles A A.

These slots and pins allow the front ends of the levers the properamount of play when the handles are drawn toward each other. The objectof using-these slots and pins is to prevent the front ends of theX-levers leaving the handles.

Sometimes in using mypatented shears if an unyielding or tough objectwas caught between the blades C and B the pressure on the handles Awould bring their rear ends toward each other, closing the X-levers,whose front ends would leave the handle, while the blades 13 C were notmoved; but by confining the front ends of the X-levers to the handles,as herein shown and described, this unwonted action of the shears isprevented, and the blades B 0 must move with the handles if they aremoved toward each other either at front or rear. I also in the presentinvention utilize these X-levers E e as the springs for holding theblades B G in proper cutting contact, thus dispensing with the parts Fff and slot 13*, (shown in the patent,) which sometimes would becomeclogged or would catch the wool, &c.

A sleeve J is placed on pin J underneath the end of lever E, and asimilar sleeve j is placed on pin j above the end of lever e. As thelovers E e are normally held in horizontal position by the slots A inthe handle, if the front end of lever E is elevated it will tend toelevate blade B, and if the front end of lever e is depressed it willtend to depress blade 0. It thus results that by pressing the front endsof levers E c in proper direction blades B O are pressed closely butyieldingly together at all times by reason of the resiliency of theX-levers.

To the handle A over the pin J is secured a thumb-piece A which rendersthe tool more easily handled by the operator, and the grasp of the handalso assists in keeping the blades B O in proper cutting contact.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have muchsimplified my patented shears and at the same time increased theefiiciency thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I therefore claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent thereon, is-

1. An animal-shears consisting of a pair of handles cutting-bladesthereon, and a spring for forcing said handles apart; with a pair ofspring X-levers secured to and between the handles at both endssubstantially as described, whereby the cutting-blades are keptyieldingly in contact and the handles are also kept parallel when theshears are operated, substantiallyas and for the purpose described.

2. An animal-shears consisting of a pair of handles cutting-bladesthereon, a spring for forcing said handles apart, and a pair of X-levers pivoted to each other and secured to and between the handles insuch manner that the handles are thereby kept parallel when the shearsare operated and means for pressing the front ends of the levers inopposite directions whereby the cutting-blades are also thereby keptyieldingly in contact substantially as described.

3. In an animal-shears the combination of a pair of handles, the bladescarried thereby, and spring for separating the handles; with theX-levers interposed between and respectively connected to oppositehandles at their rear ends, and having a pin-and-slot connection withthe handles at their front ends, for the purpose and substantially asdescribed.

4.. An animal-shears consisting of a pair of handles cutting-bladesthereon, a spring for forcing said handles apart, and a pair of X-]evers pivoted to each other and secured at their rear ends to the rearends of the handles, and having slots in their front ends, through whichpass pins attached to the handles, for the purpose and substantially asdescribed.

5. In an animal-shears, the combination of a blade having a series ofteeth, each tooth being beveled backwardly from its cutting edge towardthe cutting edge of the next adjoining tooth; and a coacting bladehaving its edge slightly diagonal to the edges of the teeth and adaptedto have its point drop below the points of the teeth until its edgerides up on the cutting edge of a tooth, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

6. In an animal-shears, the combination of the handles the bladeattached to one handle having a series of parallel teeth, each toothbeing beveled backwardly from its cutting edge to the base of the tooth,the bevel being greatest at the point of the tooth; and a cuttingladeattached to the other handle concaved on its under side, and having itsedge slightly diagonal to the edge of the teeth, all substantially asand for the purpose specified.

'7. In a shears, the combination of a pair of handles, the bladescarried thereby, and X- levers interposed between and connected to thehandles at the ends of said levers, where= by the handles are keptparallel when the shears are operated and devices interposed between thehandles and front ends of the le vers whereby the latter are pressed inoppo site directions and thus serve to also keep the cutting-blades incontact.

8. In a shears, the combination of a pair of handles, the blades carriedthereby, and X- levers interposed between the handles, respectivelypivotally connected to opposite handles at their rear ends, and slidablyconnected to the handles at their front ends, said X-levers being soarranged that they keep the handles parallel when the shears areoperated and also keep the cutting-blades in contact.

9. The combination of the handles, the blades carried thereby, andspring for separating the handles; with the X-levers interposed betweenthe handles and pivotally connected at their rear ends to the rear endsof the handles and slidably connected to the handles at their frontends, and means for pressing the front ends of said X-levers laterallyin opposite directions, whereby the blades are held in yielding contact,for the purpose and substantially as described.

10. The combination of the handles, the blades carried thereby, andspring for separating the handles; with the X-levers interposed betweenthe handles and pivotally connected at their rear ends to the rear endsof the handles and having slots in their front ends engaging pinssecured to the handles,and means for pressing the front ends of said X-eiaets 3 sleeves on said pins, respectively, above and below. the end ofthe X-levers, all substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as 15 my own- Iaffix mysignature-in presence of two witnesses.

HUGH V. DUNN.

In presence of-- J AMES' R. MANSFIELD, ARTHUR E. DoWELL.

